bobthe

A couple things in this thread confused me. First, anyone considering Aloth to be underpowered. I think a lot of people just aren't aware of proper use of the two area ranges for spells. You CAN overlap the extended yellow area over allies without affecting them while still affecting enemies. Only the base red area affects both allies and enemies. I believe this was mentioned above also. This allows for some really great uses of the cone spells from behind your front lines as long as you're back far enough that the red area stops before your front line. Sure, you won't get the enemy's back line, but you'll get all the ones by your front line. Second, I keep seeing references in the forums to the "slick" spell or whatever it's called. I still haven't found this spell. Aloth does not start with it. Are people spending 2nd level new spells gained on 1st level spells just to get access to this spell?

I mapped the right mouse button to "pan" so I can easily right click and drag the map view. This is MUCH quicker and easier than moving the mouse to the edge of the screen or using the WASD keys. I recommend trying this out if you're annoyed by the camera behavior. Having said that, while I have no problem with an option for locking the camera to a PC being added, I just want to emphasize that it should be an option and not default. That kind of behavior would almost assuredly trigger my motion sickness.

Not to be a downer but I would recommend other classes for interrupt builds over a barbarian. Barbarians are best for DPS. Give em a 2H weapon and high Might and med-high Dex and Con (remember, Dex is DPS due to attack speed). A rogue or another class that is better suited for Two-Weapon fighting would be preferred for an interrupt build. Having said that, if you really just want an interrupt barbarian then have at it! Play whatever you think will be fun. My 20 Str Barbarian was almost one-hitting things even at level 1-2.

I get your point. Although in my opinion not having the level information does actually add something to my playing experience. What does it add? It keeps me in the game world. When the game starts, I don't know anything about the land or its creatures. In the first couple of minutes I learn about spiders, then wolves. There's a bandit camp nearby. There's a bear cave. This first map exemplifies what I like about this game. Spiders can be beaten easily. Bandits are tricky. Bear is impossible at the start. All on the same map. Which is the only map that can be reached. When I died it wasn't because I was on the "wrong" map. It was because I was a level 1 adventurer who was stupid and a noob and didn't have a clue. What did I learn from this map? I learned that the world is dangerous. I learned this by dying in-game, not by looking at a number. After the first map I did accept the possibility to encounter something that is actually stronger than my party. This created suspense. What does this lead to? In my case, I read the monster descriptions in the 'pedia. I also did not dare to engage some scary looking creature, because I was semi-sure I'd get my ass kicked. When I fought that creature later, it was laughably weak. I also engaged a group of guys that I took for some generic, weak ass bandits. Turned out they were not and I burned through all my spells in one unexpected show of power. Suprises, suspense, triumph and fear would not have been possible if there was a level number. I'd know beforehand whether or not I am supposed to win this fight. On my 2nd playthrough I will know that spiders are weak to crushing damage and fire. I'll know that this group is dangerous and that group is not. I can focus on efficiency as opposed to exploration. To put it short: Having numbers takes away exploration and adventure. I like this on my first playthrough. Your logic is very flawed. The post you are arguing against describes exactly what you claim to want. I'm very confused about your position on this topic. Providing information about the difficulty of a mob is in-game information that your characters would get from evaluating a potential enemy. That is in-game information. Having to fight something, find out it kills you, and then reload is NOT keeping things "in the game world". Incorrect. You, as a player, may have learned this, but your character certainly did not. You have to reload to a time prior to when your character found this information out (i.e. before the fight). This is NOT keeping things "in the game world" as you claim to like. This is exactly the opposite of that. Having said that, it would be easy enough to implement the feature as optional, so why not suggest that instead of all the people saying "omg no I don't want this"?

I can't recommend Barbarian for your DPS enough =D My barbarian has done at least triple the damage of any other individual party member, including my rogue, which was a custom NPC I added immediately when I got to the first town so he's been in my party nearly as long as my Barbarian (main char).

One great strategy to use in situations like this is to move your wizard back a bit farther such that the red area of whatever cone spell you're using ends before your front-liners but the yellow (extended) part goes through your front-liners and hits the enemies. While the red (base) area will affect allies, the yellow (extended) portion will not affect your allies. Very useful trick to allow cone spells to be used when you have a choke point you're guarding.

Armor in this game is a bit weird, but once you realize that the only restriction is the combat action speed penalty then you are open to evaluate which armor works best for each build. Personally, my fighter has the highest DR armor I can find. My barbarian has armor somewhere in the middle. He's my primary damage dealer so I don't want to compromise his attack speed much. My priest has plate also because his speed is mostly irrelevant. He barely does anything because priest spells suck in this game. He heals my barbarian from time to time. Ranger, wizard, and chanter all have light armor, but not robes. Somewhere between -15% and -25% speed armor. They rarely get attacked but sometimes stuff gets around the front lines (e.g. incorporreal undead etc that can teleport or tunnel mostly)